Fitting Learning Time Into Your Day Part 1

Part One of this series is for...
At-Home Parents With Younger Children

This topic needs at least three parts: one for parents who are usually home with their younger children, one for parents who are usually home and have school-age kids, and one for parents who work full-time while their kids are at school or daycare. I can think of a few other categories, too, like parents who work the third shift and parents who homeschool, but I will save those for another time.

You Have All Day, Right?

Ha. Can I leave it at that ? Ha?
Just kidding. I will continue. I am sure those of you who fit this category know that there are many other things you can do with your time, especially with babies or toddlers in the house. So when can you fit in learning time with your children?

Busy Times
You will need to start by considering the things the children have to do every day at certain times. If you are like me in this regard, it will be immensely helpful to write this down or type this up.

Think about: breakfast, lunch, dinner, essential errands, school pick-up/drop-off times for older siblings, playdates, scheduled babysitting, library storytimes, naptimes or rest times, bedtimes, and whatever else is scheduled into your day.
By the way, if you have playdates or library storytimes already plugged into your schedule, those can be prime learning times for young children. Even errands can be turned into learning time, using naming, math, colors, shapes, directions, maps, or writing lists.

Available Times

What times are left? Out of these time slots, which would be best for you to be able to focus on your children? Which would be best for them to focus on you? How much time will you need? (I find that ten minutes is best up to at least twelve months old, and 30 minutes works for older ages up to at least five years old.) Then consider which time slot would be best for getting together the materials and planning what you will do during learning time.

Sample Times

When my younger son was a baby, I did learning time with my older son after his rest time and during his little brother’s afternoon nap. Learning time with the baby took place whenever possible while he was awake, and mainly consisted of listening to different types of music, reading books, smiling at each other, tummy time, and some fun baby props and toys.

When my younger son was a pre-toddler, I tried doing learning time with my older son in the morning while the younger one played with a bag of special “school toys” that were not available at any other time. Learning time with my pre-toddler went along the same lines as when he was a baby.

When my younger son became a toddler and my older son started morning pre-kindergarten, learning activities with the younger one took place during our “alone time” in the morning. Learning time with the older one took place at some point during the younger one’s afternoon nap or snack. I also included more activities that he could do by himself so that I was free to tend to the toddler if necessary.

For Part Two of this series, click here.